MMA: Paige VanZant, from victim to professional fighter

6:37 PM,
Jan. 19, 2014

Paige VanZant has signed with the UFC. (Bill Larkin/CVP Portraits)

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As a high school freshman in a small town in northwest Oregon, Paige VanZant often went home with tears trickling down her face.

She was the victim of bullying. A pack of girls targeted her. They tried to make her life a nightmare. Barely 5-feet tall, she was one of the smallest kids in school, not physically able to defend herself.

VanZant's mother, Rachel, often visited her daughter at school that freshman year, under the guise of offering her coffee, just to make sure Paige was all right. ...